Check out this discussion between City Councilors Jim Cote and Dick Blazar during the Public Safety & Transportation committee last Wednesday after a revision to the West Newton Square plan was made to appease the police chief.
They blame the most vulnerable road users. Then, Committee Chairman Jay Ciccone repeatedly cites some obscure agreement from the Mann administration to delay the project from going out to bid, even though it has broad-based support from stakeholders.
Hopefully, in the new year, there will be new leadership in PS&T that will not hide from the challenge of building safe infrastructure where it’s needed the most.
Because I am not a member of either the Public Facilities or the Public Safety & Transportation committees, I was unable to move to amend the plan voted out of those committees. But when this comes before the City Council, I will move to revert back to the original plan, which was overwhelmingly supported by the many, many West Newton residents and others who came to a series of meetings on the West Newton Enhancements Project. Sadly, I do not expect the motion to prevail, and then I will be faced with a very difficult decision whether to support what I believe to be a fatally (and I use that word advisedly) flawed plan. Assuming any plan is approved (and that is an open question at this point), the only sliver of hope that remains is that the Fuller administration will revisit and repaint the bicycle lanes along the south side of Washington Street so that bicyclists will be protected from vehicular traffic and drivers who open their doors without looking. At Ruthanne Fuller’s town hall meeting at L’Aroma yesterday, a young woman who bicycles through West Newton Square everyday to get to Newton North (and who was at the project meeting at L’Aroma’s last week) pleaded with her to create protected bike lanes all along Washington Street. Let us hope this young woman’s pleas do not fall on deaf ears.
@Ted — You mentioned yesterday the difference in the proposals was 20 seconds. Was that for routine travel or a situation where an emergency vehicle is trying to get through the intersection? I think we’ve all experienced situation where we have an emergency vehicle behind us and there is no way to let them by and perhaps that is the concern here? A bike lane on Washington between West Newton and Newtonville could make good sense, or alternatively perhaps bike traffic is better directed to Austin St. for making that journey? I’d personally take Austin St although its not as flat.
A very conservative estimate based on maximum projections for the future came out to 20-40 extra seconds to travel east-west/west-east through West Newton Square, and actually will result in less time to travel north-south/south-north through the square, during rush hours. These estimates for rush hour travel times were based on accepted transportation planning standards.
At the joint PF/PS&T meeting, the chief of police freely admitted his concerns were based on pure “speculation.” There will still be the same amount of space for emergency vehicles regardless whether the bike lane is between parked cars and the sidewalk (protected) or between parked cars and vehicle travel lanes (naked). When an emergency vehicle travels through the square, all vehicles will be legally required to pull over to the right, just as they are now.
For those reasons, I believe that basing our decisions on accepted standards and approving the original plan is the right way to go.
Ted,
Thank you for the update.
I’m incredibly frustrated by the results of the PF/PS&T meeting. I’m one of the many, many West Newton residents who came to those meetings and overwhelmingly support the original plan.
@Ben, I feel your pain. I am conflicted between doing what I know to be the right thing, and risking that no plan passes, and not letting the “perfect” be the enemy of the good, which, assuming the plan passes, would allow (not not require) Mayor Fuller to revisit and repaint the protected bike lanes.
I hope Councilors Blazar and Cote can explain the audio excerpt above. They seem to be promoting a very outdated view as it relates to cycling but it’s an excerpt and it would be great to have more context.
@Ted in your estimation, who should we citizens of West Newton write to / call to express our displeasure at this blatant, intentional disregard for the well-publicized and well-received public planning process?
Start with the Mayor’s office and the Chairman of PS&T. Then contact the rest of the councilors to urge them to vote for protected bike lanes.
@Ted — “There will still be the same amount of space for emergency vehicles regardless whether the bike lane is between parked cars and the sidewalk (protected) or between parked cars and vehicle travel lanes (naked).” Is this correct? If the bike lane is adjacent to travel lane, then it is fully available (in an emergency) for a car to pull over into while a bike lane space between the car and the curb is fully unavailable?
My bad. I am informed that PS&T reconsidered and that this will not be voted out on Monday night.
I am exploring options, including with the Office of Ethics. Stay tuned.
@Jack, the project should improve emergency response time with modern, pre-emptive signals which can provide a way to clear traffic queues before emergency vehicles arrive.
The rest of Washington Street is a classic example of where a road diet (and bike lanes) could enhance the roadway for everyone. All that extra pavement can actually make the road more dangerous. It’s a bit like Nonantum Road. Traffic volume does not justify for four lanes of traffic all the way from West Newton Square to Newtonville, and high speeds and unnecessary lane changes only make conditions less safe. Wouldn’t you prefer Washington Street to Austin Street if it were made safe? Washington Street has the potential to be an even safer route than Austin Street if cycle tracks were built along the Pike, with no points of conflict and no intersections to cross.
The document referred to by Councilor Ciccone is a written agreement between the city of Newton with the signature of Mayor Mann and the Federal Highway Administration that the city of Newton will make no changes to various elements of the highway system in West Newton without the written permission of the Mass. Department of Transportation.
This should not be difficult given the lengthy conversations that the city and the state have had on this topic according some of the city staff present. It’s unfortunate that this written permission could not have been obtained much earlier in the process.
City Councilor and Public Safety and Transportation Committee Member Brian Yates
Jack, I think you’re correct, but there are two traffic lanes in each direction and the signal should be green in response to an emergency. Do emergency vehicles really require an additional lane?
A bike lane next to parking in a commercial district will also entice people to double park, creating even more hazards. That’s a given, along with the inability of the police to prevent it from happening, even right by HQ. Why not solve that problem by design?
@Ted – why the Office of Ethics?
@Greg: The only explaining on this topic is who in the world came up with the notion that I was blocking the West Newton Sq project? Ted, Barbara, and I worked quite a long time to make this all happen, and the 3 of us are the co-dockers of the item.
Someone , remain nameless from me, somehow must have received word that the issue holding up the vote was on bikes, which actually never came up. The issue was actually a curb cut on a private lot, and a Federal document that wasn’t signed.
Bikes were briefly mentioned when P&S broke away, and my comments, if you were there, were to dismiss that as something that we would remove. Essentially, we are doing this project.
People that write to an audience such as this blog should be sure to know the back story before creating controversy. Given I have worked through 10 kids on bikes and now grandchildren; those thinking I lack experience or knowledge of bike safety should call me.
Newton bikers be cautious in your unprovoked attacks, as you going after a Councilor that supports those that wish to bike.
Thanks Adam/Ted — I should have dug up the plans earlier to have a better sense of specifics of the proposal.
http://www.newtonma.gov/civicax/filebank/documents/86222
The protected lane sections all have 4 traffic lanes. In comments above I was more reflecting on similar tradeoffs present in Newtonville for Walnut St. improvements. This looks pretty good from a biking perspective.
@James Cote: I have not heard any suggestion that you were in any way blocking progress on the plans. To the contrary, based on the meeting audio, you seemed to be the only one pushing forward, with your colleagues resisting, particularly Chairman Ciccone, due to a state regulation (are there federal issues also?) The discussion on bike lanes, however, speaks for itself. There seemed to be disdain in PS&T for the planning process and no objectivity regarding the concerns raised by the police chief. I am glad to hear you and Councilor Blazar both support bicycle safety. I would hope that includes challenging environments like our village centers and I hope to hear that reflected in future PS&T meetings, because intentional or not, the language used suggested something very different, and your PS&T colleagues need to be pushed hard on this issue.
To clarify: I usually post as “Adam” in comments, but in this context wanted to be sure to fully identify myself
Oh, and I forgot to mention, at the same PS&T meeting there was a separate item regarding the rest of the Washington Street corridor connecting West Newton to Newtonville (#281‐17), addressing the issue Jack had mentioned — how do you improve the experience getting to/from West Newton? There have been several studies and now would seem to be an opportune time to consider how to move forward. The chair was unsure what the item he had docketed referred to, and it was quickly voted no action necessary.
@James Cote
I am deeply appreciative of the work you, Ted, and Barbara have done to make West Newton safer for everyone.
It will be wonderful if the issues with the private lot and the Federal document are resolved, and the project continues with the protected bike lanes.
Thank you!
Ben
The proposed protected bike lanes should be restored. It’s reckless to put bikers in jeopardy because of speculation. With four lanes and a light system tied to the emergency vehicles, turning them green, there is no need for more space to pull over.
This change would not protect bikers from traffic and car doors opening, encourage cars to double park and put bikers next to vehicles during emergencies which might prompt the vehicles to pull over without checking for a bike.
It’s absurd to disregard the work put into designing this roadway to make it safe for all and it’s support by stakeholders. Hopefully this plan will be restored and any hiccups completed.
Recently, I tweeted to councilor Cote asking whether he is still advocating to remove the proposed parking-protected bike lanes in West Newton Square. I noted I was asking for my 12 yr old kid. Instead of responding he blocked me. So I’ll inform my kids that the answer is still apparently yes.